Teacher to Teacher

Here we are, on the cusp of another school year.  You can spot the teachers everywhere:  they wander through Mardel's with their cranky children, looking overwhelmed by the choices and a little cranky themselves.  They make mad runs on Staples stores for .01 loose-leaf paper packs.  They scoop up supplies for learning centers and boards and classroom décor, warm up their glue guns and sewing machines, and enlist their kids, friends, and friends' kids in a million projects.  Add in the trauma of changing learning goals from PASS objectives to Common Core and now to Oklahoma Academic Standards, and you find that some teachers are already on a ragged edge of hysteria about the coming year.

Perhaps we can quell the outbreak of nervous hives among our ranks with conventional wisdom we've learned through our experience.  I'd love to hear yours if you feel comfortable commenting here.  These are some things I know or believe about teaching that can (usually) make the school year go easier.

Never, ever lie to your students.  They can smell a lie and they will call you on it.  If they ask a question you don't know the answer to, tell them you don't have an answer but will find out and get back to them.  Follow through.

Have a seating chart from Day 1.  It can solve a myriad of problems.

Laugh---especially at yourself! 

Keep as much of your work at work as you can.  I know you won't; I'm just giving you permission to take a Saturday or Sunday off once in a while. 

Wear sensible shoes!  It makes me crazy to see people wear shoes that are going to deform their feet or, even worse, give them no support at all.

Try to make as many positive calls to parents as negative ones. 

Remember that our buildings would immediately shut down if we didn't have the secretaries, custodians, and cooks.  Learn their names, say them often, and thank them for everything you can.

Greet your students at the door by name, each class, every day.  It'll cut discipline problems in half.  (This is one I struggle with these days---it seems like there is always something keeping me at my desk during pass time---but I vow to do better this year.)

Here's your answer when a student asks, "Is this for a grade?"  You:  "Everything's for a grade.  Even if I don't record a grade, you'll be preparing for a graded assignment." 

Students get two free days every week:  Saturday and Sunday.  Use the others, every minute!

Know the culture of our kids.  Learn something about their taste in music, clothes, movies, or pastimes....even if we find their "culture" perfectly horrible.

If you are wrong, say so and apologize.  The students find that kind of humility much more deserving of respect than any bluff and blunder.

Ladies, do not cry in frustration in front of classes.  Men, do not yell for the same reason.  Students smell blood in the water if you do these things, and they will go in for the kill.  They aren't barbarians; it's just nature. 

Don't listen to nay-sayers.

Every kid has a strong suit.  Find it.

No sucking up!  Your peers WILL notice it and resent it. 

And no stealing another teacher's shtick, either. 

Remember that you are a teacher everywhere you go; act accordingly.

You knew the job was dangerous when you took it.  Love it, or find something less stressful (and less rewarding) to do.

And the very most important thing?  Take potty breaks, even if you don't think you have to go.  Gosh knows when your next chance will be.

Of course, these aren't all good suggestions; they're just things I've observed over the last 27 years in the classroom.  Those 27 years aren't a guarantee that I have the best information, just that I've had time to collect them.  I have no wisdom, for example, on technology, except that I refuse to let it replace me in my classroom.  That's a fight that will eventually be lost, not too far in the future, I'm afraid.  Until it does, I'll live and work by my lights, doing the best I can from what I've learned. 

What have you learned, friends?